Colibri's all over the place...

We are having a very unusual heat wave this weekend with temps in the 100's (108 today). I thought it would be a good time to skip on the yard work and do some target shooting from inside the garage where it is at least a little cooler. I wanted to test some Colibri's, Super Colibri's, and CCI CB Long's. I have used Colibri's before and they weren't the most accurate, but consistant enough to hit some spinners and get a decent group. Today they were all over the place. I am far from a sniper, but on my make shift 20 yard range I can consistantly get 1" groups seated with the rifle resting on a saw horse with most ammo and usually 2-3" with Colibri's. I can also hit my spinners very consistantly with only an occassional miss on the little one. Today was a different story with the Colibri's. I even had them fly off the 5" target and then the next one would hit right where I was aiming and then the next would be 3" off one way or the next. I tried both my 10-22 and Savage and it was the same - one has a scope and one has iron sights.

With the Super Colibri's it was better and the CCI's were dead on. Could the heat and humidity affect the slower rounds that much?

As far the sound level it was as I expected - Colibri's are almost inaudible with just the sound of the firing mechanism and then the round hitting the target.

The Super Colibri's are a real close 2nd place and are still super quiet.

The CCI CB Longs are a little louder, but the accuracy of them makes up for the slight noise. They are still quieter than my break barrell 1200 FPS pellet gun so they will still keep the neighbors happy. These will be my new back yard round - after I burn through the brick of Colibri's I just bought.

You have to clean the barrel about every 10 rounds with them due to the build up junk in the barrel. Fire about 10 of them,then safely look down the barrel,you will see what I am talking about. I would run a rod through down the barrel with a patch or two or a boresnake. That is the only way I get any accuracy out of them.

WOW - I just tore my 10/22 apart and I feel very neglectful. It was NASTY inside. I haven't shot it to see if it made a difference, but man are these some dirty rounds. Admittedly I am at fault as I usually just put a patch down the barrel after each use, but I did miss the time before my last session. The barrel wasn't that bad, but everything else was caked. It has probably been a year since my last full tear down and cleaning so it probably has 1000 plus rounds through it since then. With the majority of those Colibri's or Super Colibri's in the last few months since I have discovered I can shoot in my back yard with them. Anyways, it looks brand new now.
My apologies to the gun gods and as punishment I am buying my 10-22 a new scope and a couple 25 round mags. LOL - that will teach me!

I may be mistaken, but I thought the mfg only recommend them in pistols?

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I think that is to cover their butt's. You just have to make sure you don't get one hung up - or so I have been told. I have fired over 500 through my 10/22 and Savage with no issues. I just make sure I hear it hit the target or backstop which is easy with how quiet they are. That is one benefit of the metal backstop (it's angled down 45 degrees), but makes a "ding" even when I miss the spinners or when it passes through the paper targets. I am in no way recommending their use in a rifle, but just giving my personal experience. With that said I will only buy the Supers if I go back to Colibri's, but will primarily use the CB Longs from now on. This has everything to do with accuracy though.

I think that is to cover their butt's. You just have to make sure you don't get one hung up - or so I have been told. I have fired over 500 through my 10/22 and Savage with no issues. I just make sure I hear it hit the target or backstop which is easy with how quiet they are. That is one benefit of the metal backstop (it's angled down 45 degrees), but makes a "ding" even when I miss the spinners or when it passes through the paper targets. I am in no way recommending their use in a rifle, but just giving my personal experience. With that said I will only buy the Supers if I go back to Colibri's, but will primarily use the CB Longs from now on. This has everything to do with accuracy though.

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I used CB LONGS to hunt tree rats-the kind that love acorns. More thump that the pellet gun.

i have used cbs both short and long for years to hunt tree rats,at roughly 450 fps they usually dont penetrate the animal but stop inside and pitch the squirrel off the limb.in answer to your question..yes heat affects bullet trajectory,snipers have used that trick for years,but as you have been told dirty ammo is your culpret. old semperfi

Well I am done with Colibri's for sure. I tested out my new bullet trap today and even with a squeaky clean gun they were all over the place. I could actually see the regular Colibri's lobbing in and hitting the very bottom of the target. Not only were they way low, but left and right too. I only shot 2 regulars and found they wouldn't penetrate the rubber on my trap so they were bouncing back. I then switched to Supers and it was better but still all over - roughly 3" group = HORRIBLE! I thought maybe I had the shakes or something so I loaded some CB longs and shot a decent group...

10 rounds on a 5" target - 3/4" group. That was kneeling with the gun resting on the rail of a little folding step stool I have. This has me baffled. How can they be that irratic?

The last time I shot a Colibre in my rifle, they wouldn't even make it out of the barrel. I would never even think about shooting them through the 10/22. I always enjoyed shooting them in my little NAA revolver and watching the bullet leave the muzzle and watching it all the way to the target. Not accurate at all but fun to play with.